


Unclassified

by serenbach



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Community: girlsavesboyfic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-15
Updated: 2012-06-15
Packaged: 2017-11-07 20:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/435031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenbach/pseuds/serenbach
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post DoC. When Vincent's demons grow more dangerous, he breaks Yuffie's heart to keep her safe. But while she tries to move on, he will soon need her more than ever. Yuffentine. For the Girl Saves Boy ficathon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

To say that Vincent Valentine was not a fan of irony was something of an understatement.

Discovering only _after_ defeating Omega and sending it and Chaos back to the Planet that Chaos, the harbinger of death and the bane of his existence, was in fact the linchpin of his sanity was a perfect example of this.

As tiring and tormenting as Chaos had been, he had kept the rest of his inner monstrosities under control. Now, without his presence, the rest of them kept competing to fill the gaps in his psyche and it was getting harder and harder to block them out, and keep them under control. He'd never thought he'd miss Chaos, but it had been much easier to concentrate on one demon than three different squabbling ones.

He had always struggled to control his demons in battle, but that was different. In battle, his demons were _useful_. Having to restrain Hellmasker whilst surrounded by his companions in Tifa's bar, or holding back Galian Beast while accepting a mission from Reeve was growing more and more difficult, and more and more dangerous.

He had long before learned to block out the voices in his mind, to ignore his demons' impulses, but their whispers in his mind were getting louder, at times almost drowning out the world and people around him. More than once, he had found himself having to forcefully hold back a transformation, having to physically remove himself from a situation until he could control himself once more.

It was getting to the stage where, despite his years of experience, he genuinely doubted his ability to contain them.

The irony of it was that if this had happened to him a few years ago, he would not have hesitated to leave. He would have gone back to his coffin, regretting nothing, thankful only that his presence was no longer endangering his comrades.

But now, for the first time in decades, he had something to live for, a purpose beyond revenge that drove him. He had someone he didn't want to leave behind.

He wasn't quite sure when it had happened, when exactly he had gone from merely tolerating her presence to actually craving it, but Vincent was unwilling to say goodbye to Yuffie Kisaragi.

They had grown closer, since the defeat of Deepground. They had fought together, and he had worried about her throughout their battles. That didn't change after his return. In fact, he was pleasantly surprised to see that she felt the same way about him. Her relief in seeing that he was unharmed was only matched by her anger that he had stayed away for so long. Vincent had never been simultaneously hugged and punched at the same time before. It was not an experience he was eager to repeat, yet as he spent more time in Yuffie's company it was something he was forced to resign himself to.

After Deepground, filled with something approaching optimism, he had agreed to work with Reeve and the WRO to make sure that the organisation was completely destroyed. He had often been paired with Yuffie, as she had been the one who had been locating their bases.

It had been hard, dangerous work, but that hadn't bothered him. In fact, it was the most at peace Vincent could remember feeling in years. He had an important task to do, people who relied on him and trusted him, all in a precious time before his demons began to trouble him.

Much to his surprise, the close proximity to Yuffie hadn't bothered him at all. They worked well together, and he was amazed at how well they got on. He wasn't sure what had changed between them, whether it was him or her or their circumstances, but he actually started to enjoy spending all that time with her.

It wasn't until after one difficult mission, one where they had both narrowly escaped with their lives that things ultimately changed. Yuffie, giddy with relief and adrenaline, had thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips.

It had been nothing more than a brief, friendly peck. But something had shifted inside him and he had been the one to pull her close, the one who had turned it into a true kiss.

Yuffie's response had been flattering to say the least, though when she drew away he couldn't say which of them had been more surprised.

He had been even more surprised to find himself falling in love with her. The concept was so foreign to him that he had not recognised it until it was too late. Even after he had learned to forgive himself, and had started moving past his feelings for Lucrecia, he had not expected to feel this way, ever again, never thought he was capable of entering another relationship, especially with someone so different from him. But they had grown so close, so fast, and he had not wanted to examine the growing, tentative emotions in case they withered away under scrutiny. He had felt nothing but apathy and anger for so long that these tender feelings were almost bewildering to him.

He had been so distracted by his emerging happiness that he had not noticed the demons stirring, not until they were clawing at his control and screaming on the inside of his skull.

Even then, he denied what was happening to him. He fought them down, he pushed them back, he held them in and he ignored them as much as possible. He had a _life_ now, not just an existence. He had fought so hard for it, and he wanted to live it. But he knew that soon he would have to remove himself to keep the people around him safe. Soon, all of his efforts would not be enough.

He would not endanger the people around him. He would not risk hurting Yuffie.

His decision became final when he awoke one night to find that he had half-transformed into Death Gigas while he was asleep. He was holding the tiny ninja in arms that could crush her into two with the slightest pressure, with hands that could tear her spine from her body without effort.

The horror of it made him go cold, but despite all his efforts, it took him nearly an hour to force the demon back into hibernation within his mind and he realised that he had waited too long.

He knew that Yuffie had never been intimidated by his demons. In fact, to a sixteen year old girl, bored with a long trek over featureless plains, they had been an endless source of fascination. That was what worried him. She would take no steps to protect herself from him.

He was going to have to leave her, for her own sake. More than that, he was going to have to make her _let him go_. Yuffie Kisaragi was stubborn, determined and sticky-fingered; not one to let go easily of something she wanted. She wouldn't accept his reasons, she wouldn't listen to sense.

If he was going to push her away, he was going to have to push hard. He had tried unsuccessfully several times in the past to get her to leave him alone, but he had never managed it. And now that he actually wanted her around, he had to force her to leave him.

He truly _hated_ irony.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He waited until Yuffie and Tifa went away to pick out Yuffie's bridesmaid dress for Tifa and Cloud's upcoming wedding. Not only did that give him a few days to work up the resolve, Yuffie would be in a disgruntled mood anyway, from a weekend of being measured and pinned and prodded into wearing something feminine for a change. It would be a lot easier for him to get her angry at him if she was already irritable to start with.

He had cloaked himself with all of the coldness he had learned as a Turk, but he didn't know if it would be enough. He listened to her break her way into his flat (he had given her a key but for some reason she always picked the lock. He upgraded it occasionally just to keep her amused) and took a deep breath, deliberately shutting away his own feelings. They could be dealt with later, and he needed to be convincing now.

"Heya, Vince!" Yuffie declared as she clattered her way through his living room door and threw her bag onto his chair. She'd obviously come straight here, rather than going to her own home first. The thought almost broke through the barriers he'd erected, but he kept them firm. This was necessary. "Man, I'm beat. Who'd have thought picking dresses would be so tiring? And Tifa kept making all these jokes about ruffles and shiny peach satin. At least I hope they were jokes…"

She went up on her toes to kiss him, but he took a step back, holding up a hand to stop her. Instantly, she froze, looking into his face to try and see what was wrong. She knew that something was bothering him, she'd learned to read him well in the months they had been together, but she hadn't been able to get it out of him. He could see the wariness as she regarded him, but her tone was deliberately upbeat as she asked, "What's up, Vinnie?"

He looked at her, memorising the way she looked at him in those last moments that she was still his. Then he said, as blandly as he could, "Yuffie. I'm tired of pretending."

She went pale, but faced him gamely. "Pretending?"

He nodded sharply, once. "That this is what I want. That I've moved on. I've tried to be… normal, but I don't want…" he couldn't quite bring himself to say you, but Yuffie heard it anyway and flinched at the word he didn't say.

"Vince, I don't understand!" She paused and stepped closer, reaching for his hand. He drew it away, but it didn't stop her. She lifted her chin stubbornly, and said, "I love you, Vincent. And I thought that you-"

"When have I ever told you that?" He interrupted, pushing away the pang of pain and longing from her words, and watched the range of emotions play openly across her face. He had been rejected before himself, almost this brutally, and he could too easily remember what it had felt like. He had not told her of his feelings, but not due to the lack of them. The words were so strange, and so precious, he had not been able to think of a way to get them out. That was coming to his advantage now.

"Vincent, I know something's bothering you, and I'm pretty sure that it's _not_ me. If you just tell me what's wrong-"

"I've told you." He informed her, before sucking in a deep breath and saying the words that he knew would make her hate him. "I'm tired of pretending it's you I see whenever we are together."

The words were like acid on his tongue and something twisted bitterly inside him as he watched her stagger under the impact of his cold words, lies as ruthless as bullets.

He waited for the anger, for her to lash out at him, to punch him in the face or to hack off his hair with her Conformer. He would almost welcome it. It was his own fault; he should have left long before either of them got this attached.

But Yuffie didn't say anything, not for a long moment. And when she did, she spoke only two words in a soft, small voice, so unlike her usual one. "I'm sorry."

And with that, Vincent knew that he had achieved something that Shinra and Sephiroth, the remnants and Deepground, war and loss, had never managed. He had broken Yuffie Kisaragi. He hated himself.

She was staring at him, blinking rapidly. "When I see something I want, I just take it. I never think it through. Of course you don't want…" Her voice broke then, and she turned jerkily away from him and headed for the door.

"Yuffie." His voice was rough, even for him, but Yuffie didn't seem to notice. She turned back, and he could have kicked himself when he saw the hope in her eyes. He nodded towards the chair. "Your bag." She picked it up and left without another word, without even looking at him. The noise of the door slamming shut tore into him, and he dropped his mask, letting himself feel the pain and the self-loathing that washed over him.

He had wanted to make her angry, he had relied on it to shield her from any hurt she felt. But she hadn't been angry at all, and it worried him.

But she was Yuffie. She would be fine, she was always fine. The hurt would fade into anger, when she got over the shock, and then she would forget him.

She'd be safe. That was what he had to focus on.

She would be alright. He just wasn't sure if he would be. He was alone again, aside from the mocking voices in his head, and he felt it more acutely than he ever had before.

 

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Vincent was obscurely relieved when he got to work a couple of days later and found that his locker had been ransacked and that all his materia was missing.

She really would be fine.

Reeve had asked him to investigate the Shinra Manor in Nibelhiem, as there had been reports of disturbances. Vincent wasn't concerned, most people avoided the manor, for good reasons, so he assumed that it would just be children messing around, or teenage lovers looking for a place to be alone. That didn't stop him from seizing on the excuse to leave Edge. He didn't want to run into Yuffie, not this soon. He didn't want to see what he had done to her, and he didn't want his resolve to be tested.

It was better that he left, for the both of them.

The manor filled him with mixed emotions, as always. He had his share of treasured and terrible memories attracted to this place. Part of him wanted to see it restored to its former state, and another larger part, egged on by the various entities in his mind, wanted to burn in to the ground.

But all of his musings were interrupted when he made his way down the circular stairway into the basement. It had been ransacked. Books and papers were scattered everywhere, files and been opened and discarded, and all the left-over equipment had been destroyed.

Someone really had been here, and they had obviously been looking for something. As Vincent searched through what was left, he discovered that only the files on him were completely missing. Someone had been investigating him.

Clamping down on his anger, as it only agitated his demons; he called Reeve and informed him of his discoveries, to find that Reeve was just as disturbed as him, although for slightly different reasons.

"We sealed the basement," Reeve reminded him. "Only a high-ranking WRO member has access to the password." After Reeve had established the WRO, and began to study some of Shinra's old files, he had decided that some things were too dangerous to leave lying around unguarded.

"Do you know it could be?" Vincent asked, as calmly as he could. He knew he should have destroyed his files while he'd had the chance.

There was a musing silence on the other end of the line. He knew that Reeve was contemplating all of the people who had access to the password, and had interest in the files.

"I'll send you a list of people who might have wanted to examine the files. Use your discretion, Vincent. I'll send you a new password to reset the door while you're there as well."

Vincent didn't reply, but Reeve didn't seem to expect one. As he waited for Reeve's messages to come through, he forced himself into calmness.

He would find who had done this, the person who had violated his privacy in such an unforgivable way. Not even his friends knew the full details of what had happened to him, and he hated the thought that a stranger could read all the particulars. He would never want the experiments that he had undergone to be repeated on anyone else.

And well, he had wanted to avoid Edge for a while, anyway.

 

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Strangely, Yuffie felt almost like she was cheating on Tifa.

She was sitting in _another bar_. And while this one didn't have any delicious home-cooked food on offer, the same level of hygiene or the convenience of having her best friend behind the bar that _Seventh Heaven_ had, it did have one advantage.

Here, no-one cared about how much she drank. She knew that Tifa watered down her drinks if she was feeling concerned, which was happening more and more lately.

Not that Yuffie had been moping around. She didn't mope, not for anything. Whenever anything bad happened, she tried to channel all the sad feelings into something productive. When Wutai had lost the war, instead of wasting time feeling bad about it, she had tried really, really hard to restore all that had been lost. Sulking never fixed anything, after all.

This meant that she had spent a lot of time working recently. She'd signed up for every WRO mission going in the past few months, trying everything to block the memories of Vincent's eyes staring at her so emotionlessly, and his voice, cold like climbing up Gaea Cliff in booty shorts, telling her that he…

She cut the thought off with a swig of beer. She didn't mope. She _didn't_.

But the problem with working so much was that it had exhausted her. Reeve had walked in on her asleep at her desk one to many times, and like the good friend and bossy boss that he was, made her take a week off to recuperate.

But now that she had nothing to do, she couldn't stop herself from remembering their last conversation, and it hurt. She had never expected Vincent to return her feelings. It was enough for her that she had the opportunity to spend time with him as a friend, more than enough to know that he was safe, not blown to bits after his fight with Omega. Even now, remembering the time when she thought he had died was enough to make her feel queasy.

Despite the fact she had never expected his love, it tore her up inside to know that she didn't have it. Knowing that everything that had happened between them, every memory that she had cherished was a lie was a truth so bitter she could hardly stand it. She had truly believed that he had moved on enough to be with her, but she had just been fooling herself. Why had she ever thought that Vincent Valentine would want to be with her, of all people?

When she wasn't busy not-moping, she just felt angry. She didn't regret breaking into his locker to steal his materia, although she hadn't kept any of it. In fact, the profits from the sale of it had funded her last few rounds. She just wished she'd punched him in his stupid, beautiful face while she'd had the chance. She wished she'd managed to persuade him not to give up on them so easily.

She didn't know if she hated him, or if she just missed him. Probably both, and that was why she was so miserable.

Today had been a particularly bad day. She'd (almost literally) bumped into Vincent at headquarters, the first time she had seen him around since their _conversation_. He didn't acknowledge her, he hadn't even looked at her. He'd swept around her so rapidly that not even his cloak had touched her. It had made the coil of pain around her heart tighten almost unbearably. She really was nothing to him.

She didn't blame Tifa for being concerned about her, but she just couldn't face the sympathy tonight. She just wanted to forget how sad she felt. Besides, Tifa had enough on her plate, with the bar, the kids, Cloud and the wedding. She didn't need to baby-sit a heartbroken ninja as well.

She drained the last of her beer, but before she could order another one, a hand came into her line of sight holding a fresh bottle. She sighed, not in the mood to be hit on (but, hey, free beer was free beer), but stopped in surprise as she recognised her unexpected companion.

"Don't usually see princesses in a place like this, yo," Reno observed lazily, taking the stool next to her without asking.

"How many princesses do you know?" she asked with a shrug, taking a sip of the drink. She liked Reno, in a 'keep your enemies close' kind of way, and bantering with him could be pretty fun, but she just wasn't in the mood for company.

But he didn't say anything for a long time, just joining her as she made her way through the drink he'd bought her. It was only when she'd finished that he'd nudged her arm, smirking.

"Betcha can't get that guy's phone number," he challenged, pointing at a man a little further down the bar, who was slumped over a glass, looking even more miserable than she felt.

Even tipsy and depressed, Yuffie was not one to back down from a dare. She rolled her eyes at him, before going and successfully getting the number from the man. Her victory cheered her up a little, and when she returned to her seat she was smirking.

"Right, you get her number now," she challenged in return, subtly pointing at the harassed looking barmaid. Reno only smiled, before turning his attention towards the woman.

Yuffie actually had a good time that night, Reno being a more effective distraction than alcohol from her heartbreak. Their challenges became more and more ridiculous until they were kicked out, and Reno left her sprawled over Tifa's front doorstep as he wasn't sure where she lived and she was in no fit state to tell him.

 

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After that night, she and Reno started meeting up a couple of times a week. They didn't do anything much, usually just relaxing at different bars or going to the cinema, nothing special at all. She found him fun to hang around with; it made a nice change to spend time with someone who actually laughed at her jokes instead of just tolerating them, and who didn't act as if the world had ended if she accidentally relapsed and picked someone's pocket.

She was starting to feel a little happier. Doing stuff with Reno was much more entertaining that working all the time, or just sitting around dwelling on what had happened, anyway. She knew that Reno could tell that she was sad about something, and he was shrewd enough to work it out for himself, but he never mentioned it. She was glad. She was honestly tired of thinking about it.

One night, they'd gone to see a horror film so bad and utterly un-scary that they decided to rent the first two in the franchise to watch back at her flat, somewhere they could mock them without being shushed every five minutes by the wimps who were actually frightened by it.

She'd been totally absorbed in the awfulness of the film when Reno curled his arm around her shoulders. She turned to him, surprised, just as he leaned towards her and kissed her.

She hadn't been expecting it at all (well, she had expected it on the first night but when he hadn't tried to come on to her, she'd assumed he simply wasn't interested), and pulled away with a gasp.

She had never expected to see Reno look awkward about anything, but he covered up the emotion with a careless shrug. "Sorry, babe. Worth a try, though, right?" She stared at him for a brief moment, still absorbing what had happened. She'd never really thought that way about Reno, although she would freely admit that he was pretty hot and that they had fun together.

She knew that she still loved Vincent, still wanted him. That hadn't gone away, no matter how much she had tried to make it. But he didn't feel the same way about her. He never had. Was she really going to spend the rest of her life pining for some jerk who didn't want her? Just because she loved Vincent didn't mean she was going to turn into him.

She tugged Reno back down to her and sank into the kiss. After a long while, when he asked where the bedroom was, she took his hand and led him there.

Strangely, not that much changed between them after that. They still hung out and had fun together, just more often than not the fun ended up happening in one of their bedrooms. It wasn't serious, and she was fine with that. Reno didn't pretend around her, didn't make what they had seem more than it was. He might not love her but he very definitely wanted her, and it was a balm to some of the wounds that Vincent had caused her.

She carried her new enthusiasm into work with her, and flung herself back into helping Tifa with her wedding plans. She knew that Tifa had a lot of doubts about this new relationship, but like the good friend and harassed bride she was, she didn't openly question her sanity. She even let Yuffie invite Reno as her guest to the wedding; he and the Turks had been coming anyway, but as her date they would get to sit together, which she was especially glad about. She wanted all the support she could get, as Vincent was coming to the wedding.

Tifa hadn't been sure whether or not to invite him, due to female solidarity and all, but Yuffie had told her to go ahead. She hadn't wanted to make their friends choose between them. That didn't mean she was looking forward to seeing him, although she told herself not to worry about it. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to talk to her or anything.

She still missed him. The ache in her chest had eased, but it hadn't gone away. Tifa had assured her that it would in time, and she was usually right about this sort of stuff. She just wished she could hurry up and get over him already. She hated being so miserable.

 

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Vincent hadn't wanted to come to Cloud and Tifa's wedding, but even if he had been able to ignore the fact that Cloud had taken the time to specifically call him up and request that he come, Tifa sending a tailored suit to his flat had sent a more determined message that his presence was required. Besides, he was trying to be a better friend, even if he hadn't been doing a very good job of it so far.

So he took time out from his investigations to return to Edge. He had tracked down most of the people on Reeve's list, but so far none of them seemed to be responsible for taking the files, not even the ones who'd had the closest ties to Shinra. He was almost at a dead end. Aside from a few of the names he had not been able to trace, he had managed to unearth nothing. He still didn't know who had taken his files, or why, and it was frustrating him and frustration just fed his demons' restlessness. He felt like he was going round in circles.

Vincent had firmly squashed down Reeve's suggestion to get Yuffie involved in the investigation. He didn't know if he was simply being practical, or if he was subtly trying to match-make, but either way he had worked too hard and had given up too much to put her in danger now.

Yuffie hadn't looked at him once all day, not that he could blame her. He looked at her though, as often as he could get away with. Her fears about the style of dress had proved unfounded he noted, the silver-blue dress that Tifa had chosen looked beautiful on her. He'd been worried about her, the last time he had seen her at headquarters there had been huge shadows under her eyes and she had just looked so sad. He'd walked away as fast as he could. The urge to comfort her had been strong, and he didn't want to undo all the effort he'd put into making her hate him.

She looked much happier today, dividing her time between Tifa and, for some reason, Reno. He didn't like the way the Turk was looking at her, or the way he so casually touched her, but what could he do? He had forfeited any right to protest.

At least he wasn't the only one annoyed by Reno. After he had stolen Barret's drink for the second time, the big man demanded angrily, "what're you doin' here, Turk?"

He smiled at them, though when he met Vincent's flat glare, the grin turned from mischievous to knife-edged. "Yuffie invited me. We've been spending a _lot_ of time together." The meaning in his voice was impossible to miss.

Barret wrinkled his nose in disgust, and Cid swore softly next to him, looking carefully at Vincent to measure his reaction. He hid the fact that his trigger-finger was twitching, suppressed the howls of rage from within his skull, and said coolly, "I don't care what you do to her."

Yuffie was sitting at the other end of the top table, her back to him as she spoke earnestly with Tifa. The only indication that she had heard him was the stiffness of her bare shoulders.

Reno gave him a look of distain, before rising to his feet and leading Yuffie out onto the dance floor. Vincent sat, not looking at them, fist clenched, until Barret and Cid's attention had been diverted elsewhere. Then he got up and left.

Really, what had he expected? For Yuffie to mourn for him forever? Of course not, she was far too full of life for that, she could bounce back from anything. And while it hurt to know that she had got over him so quickly, he knew that he had no one to blame but himself.

He hadn't just ended their relationship; he had poisoned all of her memories of it with his lies. She had nothing to comfort herself with, no reason to cling to what they'd had. He didn't blame her for choosing a man completely opposite to him in temperament.

Reno had better treat her well at least, or else he would…

"Vincent? Is everything alright?" Reeve's concerned voice broke into his musings. He realised he was shaking. He had been on the verge of a transformation and he hadn't even noticed. He needed to leave.

He nodded tersely in response to Reeve's question, quenching his anger and hurt to shut the demons away.

Before he could walk away, Reeve casually announced, "I have a new lead for you."

He turned back, eyes flashing. "What?" he demanded flatly.

Reeve took an instinctive half-step back, his eyebrow rising at the threat in his voice. Vincent shook his head, trying to hold himself together.

"What?" he asked again, more normally.

"His name is Dr. Janus Hine, an ex-employee of Shinra. He applied to join the WRO's research department but failed the psychological entrance tests. One of my other researchers just confessed to being blackmailed into giving up the password to him," Reeve informed him, his disappointment leaking through in his tone.

"Where is he now?" Vincent asked, feeling something like relief. At last, this would be over soon.

"Somewhere in Midgar, apparently. She wasn't sure of the exact location."

Vincent nodded grimly. Midgar was a ruined warren of a city, but it wouldn't be hard to track someone down in it. There were plenty of people who were willing to talk for the right price, or the right amount of persuasion.

"Come by my office tomorrow. I'll give you Hine's file," Reeve offered, raising his voice as the band launched into a lively number, making conversation more difficult.

Vincent inclined his head as Reeve walked away, leading Elena out to dance as the female Turk beckoned to him with a smile.

Vincent caught one more glimpse of Yuffie, smiling at Reno as his hands lingered at her waist, before he stalked away. He couldn't stay here and watch that.

Besides, he had business in Midgar.


	2. Chapter Two

Midgar had always been an ugly city, even before it was a ruin. Now, there was barely a complete building standing, although Vincent could see where effort had been made to patch up the occasional husk of a building.

Only two types of people lived in Midgar these days; those who took advantage of the tumbledown warren to hide, and those who couldn't afford to leave. He strongly suspected that Hine lay in the former category.

It hadn't taken him long to track the scientist down, although the first two people he asked cast him frightened looks and refused to answer. If Vincent's suspicions hadn't already been well and truly roused, that would have tipped him off. It had taken an extraordinarily generous bribe to get the next two informants to talk. Not that Vincent cared. Finding out what this man wanted with him was worth any amount of gil.

Hine's residence lay in what had become the centre of the city. Although it had been well-hidden (he'd had to retrace his steps several times to find to find the right way as the streets of Midgar more accurately resembled a maze), there was no security, no traps. All he had had to do was duck between two fallen metal beams and push aside a ragged curtain. It certainly didn't fit the profile that he had been creating in his mind due to Reeve's information and the reactions he'd garnered when he had spoken Janus Hine's name.

The lack of security didn't reassure him. He'd already un-holstered his gun. He couldn't even remember doing it. Something about this was wrong, and Vincent trusted his instincts.

Perhaps he should have taken the time to retrieve that file from Reeve. But full of rage and hurt and rapidly losing his hold over his demons, leaving and taking action had seemed the best thing to do.

It was too late for regrets now.

He managed to squeeze his way down the narrow corridor, ducking below various pieces of rubble before making his way into what, pre-Meteor, had probably been someone's living room.

He stopped and stared at his surroundings, lowering his gun slightly in surprise. The room was cleared of both debris and furniture, but was full of paper, loose, crumpled sheets of it piled up to his knees. There seemed to be no theme to the collection, he could spot ripped-up newspapers and faded magazines, old cereal boxes and menus for restaurants that no longer existed. There were no complete books that he could spot, but plenty of torn-out pages. He even spotted handwritten pages in cheery, uneven print, probably someone's diary.

If he had to sift through that mess to find his files, it could take weeks. He was already dreading it.

But before he could even start wondering why it was there, he heard the tell-tale crinkling of paper that indicated someone approaching the room from the other side. He readied his weapon once more.

The man who entered didn't appear to see him; he was reading an old newspaper with a furious kind of concentration. It wasn't until he let the paper drop into the pile that he noticed Vincent standing there. They stared at each other for a moment.

Janus Hine was a short, gaunt man, perhaps in his forties though he had not aged particularly well. He kept his greying hair cut close to his head, and was wearing clean but worn clothes. He was unarmed, and Vincent sensed no hostility from him. He wouldn't have looked twice at him if they had passed each other in the street.

Hine showed no sign of surprise at seeing him, or any alarm at being confronted by a man with a gun. "Ah, Vincent. I was beginning to wonder if I needed to send you an invitation. I suppose you're here for your files."

Vincent stared, bewildered at being addressed so familiarly by a stranger. Hine turned away and turned back the way he came. "This way. Don't damage my papers as you come through."

Vincent hesitated a moment, not wanting to blindly follow the scientist into unknown territory. But if he wanted his files and an explanation, it didn't appear as if he had much choice. Besides, if the man was a threat, he wasn't an immediate one, and Vincent was at least confident in his ability to deal with him.

He kept his gun ready, and waded through the drifts of paper, wrinkling his nose at the musky scent of it. Hine was waiting for him at the top of a set of stairs, watching impassively as he shook himself free of paper before he started walking again.

"It's a little inconvenient, I know, but just because the city is lost doesn't mean that its wisdom has to be. I gather up what scraps of it I can."

Vincent carefully stepped over a Kalm Fried Chocobo menu, doubting the presence of any wisdom there. He wished that Reeve had been more specific when he'd mentioned the man's psychological problems.

As he followed Hine down the stairs, he realised that the space was far bigger, and much cleaner. He must have knocked down walls to join several basements together. A table ran across one wall, covered in neatly stacked folders and journals, as well as a range of beakers and test tubes holding a range of solutions that he couldn't begin to guess at. A very old-fashioned looking computer and the low light were powered by a small generator (Midgar as whole had none of the new energy sources piped in). A curtain separated what he assumed was Hine's sleeping area from the rest of the room.

The presence of the scientific equipment aggravated Vincent's already existing frustration and he was no longer willing to tolerate delays. "Why did you take my files?" he asked, and although his tone was even, every word was an implied threat.

Hine didn't appear to acknowledge the threat. Instead he opened a folder marked with his name, leafing through it with an ease that suggested he had read it before. The thought caused anger to spike through him, and it was just as well that Hine chose then to start talking.

"I am sorry about taking them without permission, but I didn't think that you would give me access to them if I asked." He glanced briefly up at Vincent's stony expression, and then back down at the open pages. "I see I thought right." His attention drifted off again.

Vincent had never met a more irritating person in his entire life, and he had been the target of a prank war waged by Yuffie and Cait Sith.

"Why did you blackmail the woman from the WRO?" he tried again, more sharply.

"Because I needed the files," Hine replied, in a tone that suggested that the answer was obvious.

By this point, Vincent was all but tearing his hair out. "Why did you take my files?" he practically hissed at him.

Hine looked up irritably, as if Vincent had disturbed him from an important task. "Because we have something in common. Or someone, I should say." Vincent tensed in preparation for the news. He knew he wasn't going to like this revelation. "I used to work with Dr. Hojo"

Vincent clamped down on the instinctive urge to fire as Hine continued. "I was there as you and your… terrorist friends interrupted our work."

"But what does that have to do with me?" he snarled, his patience almost entirely lost.

"He spoke about you often. His greatest experiment, he called you." The vague tone had left the scientist's voice, to be replaced with a growing anger. "He tried to replicate it, but it was never successful. He called them all _failures_. I wanted to know what made you _different_."

Hine lifted his head and met Vincent's eyes for the first time. Vincent was so used to people avoiding his gaze that he hadn't even noticed the omission. His eyes were a strange yellow-gold colour, unnaturally bright in the dim light.

And in Vincent's head, there were three different cries from three different creatures; fear, hated, recognition. Hine had his own demon. In that moment of realisation, each of his demons tried to escape and he had to force back three different transformations at the same time. It had never happened to him before, his demons fought each other as often as they did him, he'd never had to deal with them co-operating. The tearing pain of it blinded him for a moment. He felt his nose start to bleed as the pressure to hold them back overwhelmed him. He staggered back, clutching at his temple with his good hand. He didn't even remember dropping his gun.

And in that moment of distraction, Janus Hine shot him with a tranquiliser dart.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took Vincent a moment to refocus his eyes. Hine's face swam in and out of his vision for a queasy moment before he could see properly again.

Not that the view was particularly reassuring. All he could see was the series of webbed cracks in the ceiling. He could barely move his head, let alone the rest of his body; he was far too firmly restrained. As he rolled his eyes to the side, he could just about make out an IV, pumping something toxic into his blood.

A terrible wave of déjà vu crashed over him, filling him with an unfamiliar sense of panic. The last time he had felt such an overwhelming sense of anxiety was when Yuffie had been caught in Nero's Darkness; this time it was all for himself. After all, he had been in this situation before, and it hadn't ended well.

"You're awake," Hine said, leaning over him to shine a torch in his eyes. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he leaned over and adjusted the flow of the IV. "I'm sorry, I had to estimate how much of the tranquiliser to use to counteract your demons. I must have given you a little too much." The courteous apology was at complete odds with his actions.

"What…?" his mouth was too dry to form the sentence, but Hine seemed to understand it.

"I'm extracting the demons from within your mind to infuse them with the one already in mine. You see, the process was never completed with me. I can transform, but I have none of the same advantages as you; the strength, the healing, the _immortality_." Hine took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm dying, you know, and I don't want to. This is the only way. If we're lucky, you might even survive the process." He turned away, his tone thoughtful. "I only wish you still had Chaos. Nevertheless, the other three will have to do."

For the first time in months he tried to consciously call on his demons, to use their strength to free himself, but none of them responded. It was almost as if they were hiding. He took a little bit of hope from that.

"They'll… destroy you," he managed to get out.

Hine only laughed. "Are you having _trouble_ with them? Then I'm doing you a favour. Kill or cure, as it were. Now, I just need to bring them closer to the surface."

He felt the prick of a needle in the crook of his un-armoured arm, then pain that seemed to split his skull in half.

As he drifted away, he heard Hine apologise politely once more.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuffie didn't appreciate the mid-morning emergency call from Reeve.

While she wasn't hung-over, she had only gone to bed a few hours before, and her eyes still felt dry and gritty. She could have done with at least twice as much sleep. But the wedding had been a huge success. Tifa and Cloud had deserved a great day, and they would be leaving for the Costa del Sol in just a few hours. Yuffie had planned to go and say goodbye before they left, but considering that there was some sort of crisis, that looked unlikely now.

So she sat in Reeve's office, her head in her folded arms on his desk while she waited for her mission details. Reeve didn't leave her waiting long; he entered holding a thick file and a very welcome cup of coffee.

She sipped it as he sat down on the opposite side of the desk, opening the folder and looking grave. "What's up, Reevie?" she asked, seeing that he was having trouble forming his request.

"Vincent's gone missing," he told her bluntly, watching while she tried to suppress her wince at his name.

"He can't have gone _tha_ t far. He was at the wedding yesterday," she pointed out, the memory of the words he spoke to Reno pricking her like a clumsily-caught shuriken.

"You don't understand," Reeve replied. He closed his eyes for a moment, the picture of a man struggling with his conscience, before continuing. "Shinra Manor's basement was ransacked a few months ago," he informed her.

Yuffie frowned, trying to get her sleepy brain to focus. "Didn't we set up a password to get into the basement?"

Reeve nodded. "Exactly. And of all the information stored there, only the files on Vincent had been taken."

"But that must mean someone working here took them! Why didn't you tell me, Reeve, this is something I should have been…" she trailed off at the awkward look of guilt on his face. "Vincent told you not to, didn't he?"

Her voice was shrill with irritation. Dumping her and breaking her heart was one thing, preventing her from doing her job was something entirely different.

Reeve winced, all the conformation she needed. But before she could berate him, he continued rapidly. "It took us a while to track down the culprit, a Dr. Janus Hine who lives in Midgar. Vincent was supposed to come to a briefing this morning but he didn't show up or answer his phone. So when I tried to locate him…"

"Let me guess. Vincent thinks he's too cool for back-up and has gone off on his own. And now you need me to drag his ass out of trouble." She snorted. "Again."

Reeve didn't say anything about her derogatory tone, knowing as well as she did that there was concern under her anger. "More or less, yes. Vincent went in totally unprepared. It's possible he's fine but…" He trailed off and pushed the folder across the table to her so she could see for herself.

A lot of the file dealt with the psychological and medical tests that Hine had undergone, using terminology that she was unfamiliar with. She flipped through those pages until she reached his biography. It seemed pretty normal, until… "Trained by _Hojo?_ Vincent doesn't know this?" she exclaimed. "That seems like some pretty vital knowledge, Reeve!"

"As I said, he didn't show for the briefing." Reeve's tone was worried and exasperated at once. She only ever usually heard that tone when Reeve was telling her off about something. If Vincent hadn't been in danger while they were talking, she probably would have found it funny.

"Why not? That doesn't seem like him," she couldn't help wondering aloud.

Reeve sent her a considering look, but only said, "I think he was eager to reclaim his files."

It was a lie, and she knew it, but she didn't protest. After all, it wasn't any of her business. Vincent was just a comrade in the WRO now. She would respond in the same way for any colleague in danger.

She would. But fear wouldn't be cramping up her stomach for any other colleague. She stood to go.

"I've already contacted Cid; he'll meet you at the landing-strip with the Shera. I've assembled a squad of six soldiers for you as well. Please use them; I don't want you running around without back-up as well. Vincent's last location is marked on the map of Midgar in the folder. Be prepared before you leave."

She nodded. Reeve generally left her to her own devices while she was on a mission so she took any requests he made seriously.

"Yuffie, don't underestimate this man. My sources have informed me that while he seems absent-minded and polite, even affable, he's incredibly intelligent and dangerous, totally lacking in empathy or morals. He's been blamed for several street-children going missing; they think he's trying to continue the programs of human experimentation that Shinra initiated."

Yuffie wrinkled her nose. She'd had more than enough of Shinra experiments in her life already. "It's about time we caught him, then."

"I don't know what he's capable of. Be on your guard… and if you can't capture him…"

"I understand," Yuffie said, to spare him actually giving her the order. Reeve hardly ever gave 'dead or alive' orders; he pretty much focused on the 'alive' part. "I'll see you when we get back."

Reeve smiled a little at her confident tone, but the worry didn't fade from his expression as she left his office, all tiredness forgotten.

It didn't take her long to get ready, she had her Conformer with her, as always, so all she needed was a detour to her locker, where she kept the mastered materia she used for work (at her request, Reeve had wired her locker to shock anyone who tried to force it. She never left materia lying around unguarded, unlike some people she could mention). Then she left for the airstrip just outside of the city.

Her squad was already waiting for her, and she greeted them as amiably as she could while inwardly shrieking with impatience. She was practically dancing on the spot, until she saw a familiar figure dressed in blue, leaning against the railings on the other side of the landing strip.

She jogged over to join him, standing downwind from his cigarette. "Reno? What're you doing here?"

"Heard about Valentine," he replied frankly, looking at her with a shrewd, assessing expression that he hardly ever showed. "You're going after him, then?"

"Reeve asked me to," she answered, feeling awkward without quite knowing why.

"But you'd go anyway, wouldn't you?" he asked. Her silence answered for her. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm a moron," she grumbled, leaning next to him.

He laughed lowly, but didn't say anything else until the Shera appeared on the horizon. "Call me if you need a rebound guy again, yo," he drawled, making a move to go.

"What? Hey!" She called after him. "Why have you stopped being my rebound guy now?" she demanded, slightly untactfully.

He paused and turned back to her, an unfamiliar seriousness in his usually mocking eyes. "You still love him." She couldn't deny it, and it made her angry. "And you didn't see the way he looked at me yesterday. Like he would happily break my fingers if I touched you again." He shrugged, his voice pragmatic. "I like my fingers the way they are."

"Reno…" She knew that whatever she said now could change things between them. She could push them beyond just being friends with benefits, or she could lose him completely from her life, in every way.

But she couldn't promise him more than she could give, she would never do to anyone else what Vincent had done to her, lying silently with every touch and every kiss. She just didn't want to lose his friendship entirely. He had stuck by her side while she had been so miserable, and he had done everything he could to cheer her up. And true, while it wasn't like he hadn't got anything out of it, she was still really grateful. She wouldn't have got through that rough patch without him.

Just because he was wrong about Vincent's feelings didn't mean that he was wrong about hers. It wasn't fair on him to pretend otherwise.

She squeezed one of his hands in both of hers. "You're my friend, not just my rebound guy, you know."

It wasn't what he'd been hoping for, she could tell, but he still grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. My _very_ close friend." He laughed at that, and ruffled her hair in a way that he knew annoyed her. Just because she was short, didn't mean that people had the right to mess up her hair!

"Well, who else would go and see those awful Wutainese horror films with you?" he asked with mock seriousness.

"Hey, Wutainese horror films are the best, and you know it!" she protested with a grin.

His reply was lost in the sound of the Shera landing. "Go and get him," he yelled directly in her ear. "Tell him from me he's an idiot."

She nodded and waved, running of to join her squad as they embarked. She kept her eyes on his vivid red hair until he was out of sight. The fact that she wasn't that upset about their physical relationship ending told her pretty much everything she needed to know. It had been fun while it lasted, but that was all. She was just glad he still considered her a friend now it was over.

Then her thoughts turned back to her more pressing problem, how to help Vincent. Even while talking to Reno, she had been turning a plan over in her head. Too wired-up to feel nauseous, she made her way to discuss her plans with the pilot.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Midgar was a huge dump. She'd always hated it, even more so now. Reeve's map wasn't much help, even though it was drawn after Meteor had crashed into the city, the streets changed pretty much every day as the city continued to crumble.

She hadn't been here since she and Vincent had helped to evacuate the city. That memory had been precious to her, but recalling it now was no real help.

Eventually though, she found the location by a combination of dubious navigation and bribery of locals. She'd even managed to find a young man who remembered a "scary-lookin' man in a red cloak" looking for the same place that morning.

Feeling optimistic, she stood outside the half-collapsed entrance. "You remember the plan?" she asked the captain of her squad.

He nodded, grinning behind his helmet. "Make a big noisy distraction so you can sneak in."

"Yup," she said, grinning herself. Simple plans were the best, sometimes. "I just need a few seconds get in to see if Vincent is still in there, and if he needs any help." The man nodded his understanding. "Don't engage him at close range; we don't know if he is armed. If he doesn't surrender, don't be afraid to shoot to kill." She was a ninja, she was not uncomfortable making that order. "If I'm not out in fifteen minutes, withdraw and contact the Commissioner for orders."

"Understood," the soldier said, saluting. She had been uncomfortable giving orders when she first entered the WRO, but she had got used to it by now. She guessed it would be good practice for whenever she went back to Wutai.

She sneaked forwards and hid herself by some rubble by the front entrance. Someone leaving the building wouldn't see her - she just needed a second to slip in behind him.

"Janus Hine!" The captain bellowed, making her jump in surprise even though she had been expecting it. He had the loudest voice she had ever heard, louder than even Barret when he was drunk and angry. "This is WRO. You are wanted on charges of kidnap and assault. You are surrounded by armed soldiers. If you do not come out, we will enter your building!"

The captain just started to shout his spiel again, when an impatient looking grey-haired man left the building with his hands held cautiously up. "What's this about? I'm extremely busy," he asked irritably. Yuffie couldn't help thinking that wasn't the normal reaction of an unarmed man to a confrontation with armed ones. They were missing something, she knew, but she couldn't think of what it could be. It couldn't be anything too bad, he was totally outnumbered. She just had to trust that the soldiers would follow her orders.

The captain threatened Hine into taking another step forward, leaving enough space for Yuffie to slip silently behind him, all the while praying to Leviathan that she wouldn't have an attack of clumsiness while she did.

She had no trouble making her way down the low, narrow corridor, but a room full of paper made her pause. If there was someone else here, they would hear her coming.

The sound of gunfire outside decided her. She didn't have a choice. She ran over it, as quickly and lightly as she could, before running down the stairs. The stairwell was too narrow to ready her Conformer, so she pulled out a kunai knife instead. One good throw could make all the difference.

Her caution was unneeded. There was no one down there. For a moment, she despaired; they had the right location, so where was Vincent? Then she noticed the curtain.

She hurried over to it and pulled it back, before crying out in shock. Vincent was strapped to a table, his eyes closed and chest hardly moving. There was dried blood under his nose. Even in his weakest moments, she had never thought of him as helpless, not until now. She hurried forwards, at a loss at how to help him, until she spotted the IV. She wasn't sure what was in it, but it glowed faintly mako-green and she guessed it wasn't healthy, so she went to remove it.

As she got closer though, she could see that Vincent's arm was covered in luxurious blue fur, as though he had started to transform before falling unconscious. Her fingers brushed softly against the fur, before she decided there was nothing she could do about it. Vincent would transform, or he wouldn't. She didn't have time to worry about it. She withdrew the needle from his arm. After a moment's thought, she cast esuna as well. It couldn't hurt.

By the time she had started work on picking his restraints, his eyelashes started fluttering. As she finished unfastening the ones around his left wrist and elbow, his eyes opened, showing that his irises were flooded with black.

"Vincent?" she tried, but there was no response, not even a twitch. She finished opening the rest of the straps on his arms and legs, and the widest one around his waist, just in time to see his eyes fade back into their usual red, and lucidity return to them.

He blinked at her, confused, for a few moments. "Yuffie?" he whispered, voice hoarse with both disbelief and dryness. She cursed herself for not thinking about bringing water; there was nothing here that she trusted enough to give him.

Even with the soreness of his voice though, she was taken aback by the amount of emotion he let show in it; surprise, longing, fear, disbelief. She didn't know how to interpret it, so ignored it for the moment.

"Vince? How are you feeling? Can you sit up?" She put her arm around the back of his shoulders, trying to help, but whatever he had been given had taken its toll. She cast another esuna, just in case, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

She'd hoped that Vincent would be able to walk on his own, but a good ninja always had a plan B. His eyelids were flickering closed again, though, and she needed him at least awake for her back-up plan to work.

She could hear footsteps on the stairs. Only one set, which meant she couldn't guarantee that they belonged to a member of her squad. No time to be subtle then. "Vincent!" She slapped his face, not enough to hurt but enough to shock him into opening his eyes again. "You need to stay awake, okay?"

He stared blearily at her, but his attention sharpened as he heard the footsteps on the stairs. He tried to sit up, not quite managing it. There was a hint of fear in his expression now, and it shocked her to see it. What had happened to him?

"… Shouldn't be here," he whispered. "Why did you come?" The words hurt. Even when she was doing nothing but help him, he didn't want her around.

"You know why," she told him irritably, before thrusting an activated Exit materia into his hand. He grasped it automatically, his eyes having just enough time to widen in shock before he disappeared in a vivid green flash, to the sickbay of the Shera, where she had been focusing her will.

At least, that's where she hoped he ended up anyway, as a small, bitter part of her still quite wanted him to go to hell.

She pulled her Conformer from her back and stood alert as the footsteps entered the room. It was Hine. He looked past her first, to where Vincent had been lying, before turning his strange golden gaze on her.

"I suppose you're Yuffie." She didn't know how he knew that and the fury in his voice left her no time to wonder. "You shouldn't have interfered. I'll have to kill you to get him back here now."

"You could always surrender," she suggested, wondering how this old, unarmed man was planning on killing her.

He laughed, harsh and mocking; until the laugh was cut off by a howl of pain, torn from his throat. Considering that she hadn't thrown her weapon yet, she was baffled to what had caused it, until she noticed the coarse, dark hair sprout from his skin.

He was transforming. Of course. He had worked under that slimy git, Hojo. She didn't know why she had never considered the possibility that Vincent wasn't the only one to have demons implanted in him.

He started to shoot rapidly upwards in height, the dark hairs continuing to grow. Yuffie however, was not the type to politely wait for her opponent to finish getting ready before she attacked. She flung her Conformer, and then a fireball in rapid succession.

Hine's reflexes were already inhumanly fast, and the Conformer missed, though her fire spell hit him directly, filling the basement with the pungent smell of burnt hair. He continued to grow, taller and wider, as she somersaulted backwards to put as much space between them as she could.

She recognised the shape he was taking with a sinking heart. While Yuffie wasn't afraid of spiders, as such, she avoided them as much as possible, like all sane people.

She didn't think anyone would blame her for being a tiny bit afraid of a spider the size of a full-grown _behemoth_ , however. It stared balefully down at her, each of its eight golden eyes filled with hatred and an inhuman intelligence.

This spider would spin the whole Planet into its web, if it had the opportunity. And it was going to start with her. It skittered forward, almost as fast she could dodge, the serrated hairs on its legs catching on her shirt, tearing through the fabric like razorblades. Its mandibles snapped at the air where she had been a split-second earlier, dripping poison puddling onto the floor.

She quickly threw her Conformer again, aiming for the weak parts of its legs. Although she cut through one, it didn't slow it down, and she had to flip quickly out of the way as it nearly trapped her against the wall. It crashed through the table that Vincent had been strapped to, leaving nothing but kindling behind it.

It turned to continue its attack, and that's when Yuffie realised, like most large creatures trapped indoors, it had trouble manoeuvring its bulk in a space too small for it. It was slow when it turned, much too slow.

She danced out of its reach, again and again, throwing fire and lightning spells into its eyes, as well as her weapon against its legs, letting it trap her into a corner. Then, feeling its jaws snag her shirt once more, she dropped to the floor just in time and rolled under the spider. It couldn't turn in time to keep up with her, couldn't back away before she pierced its soft underbelly with her shuriken.

It screeched, high and terrible, as she kept rolling, tearing a deep line throughout the whole of its body. She tumbled out of the way, coated in stinking black blood, just as the spider collapsed inwards on itself, its legs twitching as they curled up.

She staggered back, panting, as the spider slowly reverted back into Janus Hine. His face was screwed up with pain; the wound she had given to his demon-form had stayed when he reverted to human. It had been mortal to the spider. It was still mortal now.

His eyes opened just a slit, and he stared wordlessly at her as he died. She wondered if she had just imagined seeing relief there; having a spider skittering around in her head would have certainly driven her mad.

She checked herself over for injury, relieved to find nothing but scratches, though she would have to write off another shirt. How did she manage to get through so much more clothing than any of the others? It just didn't seem fair.

She stumbled over to Hine's workbench, giving his corpse a wide berth, gathering up any of the folders that had Vincent's name on them, and doing the same with the files on his slow-ass computer. As she turned to leave the basement, she saw Cerberus. Vincent must have dropped it, and it had been kicked into a corner at some point, probably during her fight. She picked it up, juggling the folders and the deceptively heavy gun as she climbed the steep staircase.

She almost dropped everything when she tried to clamber through the ocean of paper in the upstairs room; she would have gone mad if she had to search through all that for the reports she had dropped. She safely manoeuvred her way through, before pausing as she reached the door.

Turning back, she reached out a hand the best she could and cast one last fire spell. The dry paper caught quickly. She hoped it would destroy the lab downstairs along with everything she hadn't managed to take. She didn't want anyone to find those notes.

She got outside, to find the street more full of rubble than when she left it. Only the captain of the soldiers was left, he was staring at the merrily burning building with dismay.

"You're alright! Hine turned into a giant spider, then I saw the fire and I thought…"

"Hine's dead," she told him, noting his surprise. "I set the fire. Are you all okay?"

"Two of my men were injured, it took the rest of us to dig them out and take them back to the Shera. They'll be alright. Valentine was on bored when I got there."

"Oh good," she said faintly. The fight, along with her tiredness and all of her suppressed emotions, was catching up with her. She wanted to curl up and sleep for at least a week. She thrust the pile of folders at him, keeping hold only of Vincent's gun as they headed for the airship. "Let's go home."


	3. Chapter Three

The next time Vincent was lucidly aware of his surrounding, he was in the sickbay of the Shera, lying unrestrained in a comfortable bed.

He felt groggy and achy as well as a little dehydrated. It wasn't unbearable though, and he knew from past experience that the pain would leave him within a few hours. It took a few moments for the memories of what had happened to crystallise. Hine, and their demons, and pain, and then… Yuffie. It had shaken him to his core to wake to her standing over him; he had been startled and glad and horrified to see her.

Startled because he had not expected anyone to know where he was. Glad because she had come after him, and just because she was there. Horrified because she was _there_ , in the lair of a demon-possessed deranged psychopath. A psychopath who had gleefully pounced on her name when he had mumbled it in his delirium, who knew how much she meant to him.

Yuffie had come after him while he'd been all but helpless. He had left her alone with Hine and there had been nothing he could do. It didn't matter that he had been barely conscious and that Yuffie hadn't given him a choice but to leave her. He had driven her away to keep her out of danger, but she had followed him directly into it, and he had no idea what had happened to her.

The room was empty; there was no one he could ask. He pushed himself upright and waited for his legs to hold him, before gathering his belongings (his fingers brushed wonderingly over Cerberus; he vaguely remembered dropping it) and staggering out of the room. The ship was infuriatingly deserted, but he managed to find Cid in the engine room, making some noisy adjustments with a very dangerous looking wrench.

When he finally managed to attract his attention, Cid gave him a swift look of concern, quickly hidden. "You look like shit. Sure you should be up already?"

He ignored that pleasantry. "Is Yuffie alright?"

Cid frowned at him, the intensity in his voice obviously taking him aback, before shrugging. "Headed back to headquarters for a shower. She was covered in blood."

Fear sliced through him, and Vincent whirled away as fast as he could on still- unsteady legs, electing a startled curse from the pilot. "Whoa, calm down, Vince! Not _her_ blood. Giant fucking spider blood." He turned back in time to see Cid grinding out the cigarette he'd spat from his mouth in his surprise. "The kid's just fine."

Nodding his thanks for the information, he turned away at a more sedate pace.

"Vincent." He looked back over his shoulder. Cid was lighting a new cigarette, his blue eyes focused on him. "Don't mess with her head." Vincent inclined his head in acknowledgement. He understood. Cid was a friend to them both, but he would look out for Yuffie.

He made his way quickly through Edge, feeling stronger with every step. Whatever Hine had given him was leaving his system, and didn't seem to have any lingering after-effects. He could still feel the demons within him, though quiet for now, curled up in the back of his mind like a basket full of napping puppies.

Hine - or whatever dwelt within him - had startled them into dormancy, but he knew better than to hope that it would last. But he took advantage of the relative peace within his mind to reflect on what had happened.

Yuffie had come after him, despite everything. He couldn't get over the way she had looked at him, so hurt and tender all at once, and what she had replied to him when he had asked why she was there, after he realised that she would have to confront Hine by herself, since he was certainly in no state to aid her.

 _You know why._

Did he? He knew what he hoped, but it wasn't the same as believing it. He had deliberately set out to wound her, and he had succeeded. It wouldn't surprise him if he had destroyed any fond feelings she had ever had for him, and had rescued him only due to a sense of responsibility to a fellow Avalanche and WRO member.

But his deception hadn't protected her. All he had done was cause them both pain. Was it really worth keeping it going? Every time he tried to do the right thing he only made everything worse.

Maybe it was time to be selfish and, if there was any chance she still felt the same, actually fight for something that he wanted for himself.

He took him a little longer to reach the WRO than usual, but as soon as he got there, he snagged a likely looking member of staff and asked for Yuffie's location. He headed straight for the medical centre when he was informed that Yuffie was undergoing her mandatory post-mission check-up.

The first room he checked was empty; the second contained a solider having what looked like broken ribs treated. Murmuring something apologetic, he tried the room next door, to find exactly who he had been looking for. Relief washed over him as he saw for himself that she was unharmed.

Yuffie was obviously in the middle of changing after her shower, her hair was damp and she was in a towel. She spun around in shock as she heard the door open. It didn't seem to reassure her to see him standing there.

"Learn how to knock, weirdo!" she snapped as he turned around to forestall an argument. He didn't think it was the best time to remind her that he had seen her in much less than that before now.

He waited until the sounds of rustling fabric had faded before facing her again. He couldn't help but notice that her shirt was shredded in a very interesting way, but didn't say anything about it. It was enough to have her in front of him, perfectly undamaged and bristling with irritation.

He didn't say anything for a long moment, content just to gaze at her. He'd missed her, more than he had allowed himself to realise. Yuffie however, fidgeted beneath his eyes and soon got annoyed with his silence.

"So… you're up, then," she said, just to interrupt the quiet. She wasn't looking directly at him; her gaze was focused over his shoulder. "You look… better." She flicked her eyes to look at his arm, for some reason, before returning to her contemplation of the wall behind him.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, needing to hear it from her.

Yuffie shook her head. "No," she answered abruptly.

He had no idea how to make fix things to make them less awkward between them, but he knew he needed to try. "What happened to Hine?" he asked, genuinely wanting to know.

She shrugged and turned away. "He's dead." He waited for details, it wasn't like Yuffie not to brag about her ninja skills, after all, but it was soon clear that she wasn't going to elaborate.

"Cid said he transformed?" he tried again, wanting to make her to talk to him.

"Yeah. He did." He'd never heard Yuffie say so little, _ever_ , and didn't know how to react to it. He hated knowing just how much he had hurt her.

"I wanted to… thank you," he said, but she shook her head, cutting him off.

"You can thank me by giving me my Exit materia back," she informed him shortly. He had pre-empted this, and had made sure to pick it up before leaving the _Shera_. He removed it from his gun and held it out to her.

She made no move to take it from him, regarding him with the wariness of a wild animal expecting a trap. After a moment, he realised that she wasn't going to take it from his hand, so stepped forward to put it on the table between them. She took a step backwards at the same time to maintain the distance between them.

It hurt, although he deserved it. "Yuffie," he began slowly, but she shook her head.

"I've gotta go," she mumbled, "Reeve's expecting me." She darted forward to snatch up the materia, and then went to dodge around him to get to the door.

He side-stepped, blocking her way. He knew that if he let her go now, he would lose any chance he had of making this right with her. She huffed, exasperated, and crossed her arms defensively.

"Look, you've done your duty and checked on me. What more do you want?" she grumbled, disgruntled

"Yuffie," he said as gently as he knew how. "When you said that… that I knew why you were there…" she wrinkled her nose, but he was reassured when she started blushing. "Do you still…" he trailed off, not quite knowing how to phrase it, but she understood what he hadn't said. She always had, even before he had realised it.

He saw the lie form on her face; the instinctive desire to protect herself. Her lips parted to say the words, before she paused, her eyes suddenly flashing. When she spoke, months of anger, hurt and resentment came pouring out of her like poison being drawn from a wound.

"Gawd, I wish I didn't! I wish I could just forget you! I wish we'd left you mouldering in that stupid, stinky coffin! I wish you would just leave me alone!" Her voice got more high-pitched with each aggravated word and it took everything in him not to wince.

But strangely, he felt almost elated by her outpouring of emotion. It was a very negative way of declaring her affection, but it satisfied him. There was still something between them that he could work on. It was the easiest thing in the world to love and hate someone at the same time; after all, they were just different edges of the same well-honed blade. The fact that he could rouse any emotion from her other that that terrible, wounded sadness reassured him.

Besides, this was the reaction that he had expected from her all those months ago. He liked that she had regained her feistiness.

He moved closer to her. "Yuffie," he murmured softly, but now that she was angry, she wasn't in the mood to listen to him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she snapped, slapping away the hand that had begun to reach out for her. "Don't even _think_ that you can come and find me for a little stress-relief just because you're not dead."

"Yuffie!" he protested more harshly than he had meant to, though he knew she was entitled to her anger. "I'm trying to apologise to you."

"Didn't think you knew how," she sneered. "Don't bother. You might choke on it." She stepped more determinedly around him. "I'm leaving now."

This time, he took her arm in his gloved hand and turned her physically to face him. In response, she punched him in the mouth. Hard. He didn't let go of her, even as he felt his lip split, start to bleed, and then heal itself.

"I should have done that ages ago," she muttered disparagingly, shaking out her arm.

"Yes," he agreed. Her surprise at his agreement halted her struggle to free herself. He took her distraction as an opportunity.

"Yuffie… I've lost control of my demons." It wasn't nearly as hard to say as he had expected it to be. Whatever she had expected from him, it wasn't that. Her anger temporarily faded into thoughtfulness.

"What do you mean, Vinnie?" she asked. He hadn't thought the use of a nickname that he hated would ever feel so good.

Briefly he explained about Chaos, and the struggle to keep the rest of his demons within his mind. Then, with a little more difficulty, he told her about waking up as Death Gigas. She listened to every word with a frown on her face. "I was afraid I would harm you," he finished.

"So, instead of telling me about all this, you decided to hurt me and make me feel like I was nothing - like I had just stolen your materia again and you hated me - and you thought that this was a good idea," she confirmed, in a worryingly calm voice.

He nodded cautiously. "I was trying to protect you."

"You're an idiot," she said bluntly. "I don't need your protection, Vincent! I just kicked giant demon-spider ass, I think I can smack Galian Beast on the nose if I have to!" He tried to explain further, but she cut him off, growing steadily angrier. "And if you were trying not to hurt me, you failed miserably!"

"Nobody dies of a broken heart, Yuffie," he said, repeating what he had told himself a thousand times since he had ended things between them.

"How can you say that, Vincent?" Yuffie asked, frustration in her voice. "You've been dead where it counts for decades."

"Yuffie…" he had no defence for that one, other than that now he was here with her, he felt frighteningly alive. But she didn't give him a chance to speak. She pulled herself out of his grasp; to his shame, he could see bruises forming from his fingers on her arm.

She shook her head at him. "I don't care anymore, Vincent. I really don't." She reached for the door handle and he nearly let her go. Some wounds don't heal, some things can't be fixed by words alone, and some hurts cannot simply be forgiven. He knew that better than most. He'd tried, at least. He'd learned that much from his past mistakes.

He would have let her go, if it hadn't been for his demons.

Throughout their conversation, they had begun stir once more, but for once they did not interfere, or take the opportunity to try and force a transformation while he was distracted. In fact, he received the odd impression that they were listening intently.

When Yuffie's slim fingers wrapped around the door handle, three voices in his mind cried _No!_ Before he had even realised it, he had reached out and dragged her back to him, his demons' impulses so closely matching his own that he could not fight it.

She staggered into his chest; his hands steadying her at the elbows, her eyes wide with shock as he leaned forward. Seething with desperation and anger, he bent so that his face was close to hers. "I did it because I love you." He hissed the words practically into her mouth.

She gaped at him, for once lost for words. He had never told her that before, had told her the complete opposite, in fact. It was probably the harsh, unromantic way he told her that went any way towards convincing her.

"I love you," he repeated, finding the words easier the second time. "I know I hurt you… I'm sorry." She was listening now, and he could see that she actually believed him. Perhaps it was relief that made his words too careless. "It hurt me too, to see you with another. If I can forgive you, can you not-?"

"Forgive me?" she snapped, and he realised that he had pushed his advantage too far and angered her once more. "You dumped me, remember? That means what - or who! - I do is none of your business anymore, Vincent Valentine." She jabbed him hard in the chest. "Perhaps you should have thought of that before-"

Filled with the type of clarity he had only ever felt in battle before now, he cut her off with a kiss, using the hand she'd been poking him with to pull her close. She struggled for a wild moment, he could feel her heart pounding against his chest, but he didn't let go. He kissed her gently and persuasively and hungrily until she couldn't help but kiss him back. She bit his lip savagely, re-opening his earlier wound, before she gave in and opened her mouth in response the pressure of his.

It felt like coming home.

He clamped his gauntleted arm around her waist, holding her close and up on her toes at the same time, while his other hand caressed what skin he could reach, checking for himself that she was unharmed. Her hands went round his neck, for balance, and tangled in his hair. The sharp tugs felt good and they urged him on.

He gently eased her back towards the table, until she was sitting on it, and he was standing between her legs, both hands cupping her face. He kissed her softly, apologising without words. He had never been any good with them, anyway.

Neither of them heard the door open, but the pointed throat-clearing from behind them made them both jump apart. Yuffie blushed as she met Reeve's eyes. Vincent probably would have joined her, if he still could.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Vincent," Reeve said dryly, his mouth twitching slightly, as though he didn't know whether to be pleased with this development or not.

Yuffie slid down from the table. Vincent felt a little bit of inappropriate pride when he noticed that her knees buckled, but that faded when she looked at him with stricken eyes, conflicted between hurt and hope.

"I'm taking that holiday you promised me," she announced abruptly to Reeve, slipping past him and ducking behind Reeve on her way to the door.

"Yuffie… we're not finished," Vincent informed her. He didn't quite mean for it to sound so threatening.

She didn't reply, and moments later he could hear light, ninja footsteps running down the hall. He sighed, and looked at Reeve's expectant face. "… You promised her a holiday?"

"Apparently."

Vincent sighed. He wanted to follow her, but he could tell that he had overwhelmed her. If he didn't give her time to think she would only lash out at him. It just meant he would have to track her down, and that could take a while. Yuffie was good at covering her tracks.

"Vincent, what's going on?" He had almost forgotten that Reeve was there. "I didn't want to interfere before-"

"But you are now?" Vincent asked sharply. He still wasn't used to openly discussing himself.

"Yes,'" Reeve said matter-of-factly.

Vincent hesitated for a moment. His first instinct was to simply leave. But if he had accepted Reeve's help and advice in the first place, Yuffie would have never put herself in danger. Reeve was his friend; he was motivated simply by concern. It was about time that he started confiding in the people around him.

So he told Reeve, as succinctly as he could, about the problem with his demons. Reeve listened thoughtfully until he was finished. "Well, that's easily solved," he announced when Vincent stopped talking.

"What?" Vincent couldn't help demanding. All of these months he had struggled alone when it could have just been _fixed?_

"Talking to people does have its advantages, Vincent," Reeve laughed, though he quickly sobered under Vincent's impatient glare. "I've been reading through some of Janus Hine's research notes, and some other similar cases. While I can't get the demons safely out of you, I can contain them by fusing certain types of materia together - it would be sort of like your protomateria. You could wear it on an armlet if you didn't want it physically within you."

"How long would it take?" Vincent asked, unable to believe that the problem he thought he'd spend the rest of his long life struggling with had such an easy solution.

"A couple of months. I'd have to gather the right sorts of materia and it might take a while."

It felt like an anvil had been lifted from Vincent's shoulders. "Please. Do it."

Reeve smiled. "Of course, Vincent." His smile turned curious when Vincent rose to leave. "Where are you going?"

He would have thought it was obvious. "To find Yuffie."

 

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Yuffie's first stop after she left the medical centre was to her locker. The only other clothing she had with her was her WRO uniform, which would attract just as much attention as her ruined shirt, but with much less chance of getting her arrested for indecent exposure.

Then, she left the building, hoping that Reeve would distract Vincent long enough for her to get a head start. She felt overwhelmed and raw, as if a scab had been torn from a barely-healed wound. So she did what she always did when something was troubling her; she ran away until the world started making sense again.

This time, she ran to the most boring place on the Planet, and therefore the last place anyone would ever look for her. She headed to Fort Condor.

She stopped only once, at the Chocobo Farm, to "borrow" one of Cloud's golden birds. It wasn't as if was using them after all, he was on his honeymoon! If he was spending it worrying about his chocobos then he had a lot more issues than she had ever suspected.

It was getting dark by the time she reached Fort Condor and she was practically falling off the chocobo with exhaustion. It'd had been a long day, what with the late night, all the fighting, and Vincent. She was too tired to even take in all the things that he had told her, though his declaration still echoed in her head, and she could still feel the imprint of his lips against hers.

She was admitted to the Fort without question, as the guard remembered her from her part in the battle to protect the giant bird egg. She ate the bland but filling stew they served her, before falling across the bunk they provided. She didn't even have time to remove her boots before she fell asleep.

She was woken up too early by the sound of her PHS ringing. Scrabbling blindly through her belongings, she answered it with a garbled, sleepy murmur.

"Good morning, Yuffie," Reeve's voice greeted her, far, far too cheerfully. "How's Fort Condor today?"

"Damn tracking device," Yuffie muttered. "Is there a reason you're stalking me?"

"Vincent's looking for you," Reeve said, as casually as he could. Yuffie groaned, screwing her eyes tightly shut. She definitely hadn't had enough sleep to deal with him.

"… Please don't tell him where I am."

"Ah," Reeve replied. There was sympathy in his voice. "Of course not. But… you will have to talk to him eventually, you know."

"I know. Just not yet." She yawned widely, making Reeve chuckle down the line. "Was there something else you wanted, or were you just meddling in my love-life, Reevie?"

"Actually, yes. I was hoping that you would do me a favour. I need several high-quality samples of unclassified materia, and I was hoping that you could find them for me."

"Unclassified materia?" she questioned, trying to remember where she had heard about that recently. Unclassified materia was pure potential, newborn materia that had not yet developed a specific ability but that was full of power. It was particularly hard to get hold of as it needed harvesting at exactly the right moment. It was only really useful in materia fusion, however.

Of course. That's where she'd read about it. "Is this something to do with Vincent's demons?" she wondered.

"Did you read his files?" Reeve asked disapprovingly.

"Duh. Of course." At Reeve's sigh, she couldn't help laughing. "Hey, you pay me to be nosy, remember? Besides, I didn't understand a lot of it."

"Of course, Yuffie," Reeve agreed tolerantly. "Will you do it?"

"I dunno…"

"It might take weeks to find enough of it. You could be out of Edge for a couple of months, even," Reeve pointed out persuasively.

"Fine!" she said in defeat. How could Reeve always get her to do what he wanted, and then make her think it was a good idea? If she had that talent, she could rule half the world, let alone Wutai. "I'll start in the morning."

"It is morning, Yuffie," Reeve pointed out.

"Then I'll start _later_. Night-night!" She hung up before Reeve could talk her into something else, and curled up to get some more sleep.

But she couldn't switch off her mind. She kept recalling Vincent's words to her the day before. She still wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Not about his demon-problem, she could understand that after seeing him half-transformed on Hine's table.

The other stuff. That he loved her. That he had left her to protect her. Vincent _was_ dumb enough to think he was doing her a favour by hurting her, she could convince herself of that, but he had crushed her so badly that she was afraid to trust in him again.

Sometimes hope was a frightening thing. She had got over him once, just about. She didn't think she had it in her to do it again.

And being in Fort Condor didn't really help much, either. It had been here, just before the battle with the Shinra troops almost four years before, that she had realised that she had started to fall in love with Vincent. Being here again reminded her strongly of that moment.

She rose with a sigh, ready to start Reeve's mission. She obviously was never going to get back to sleep now.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had taken her a couple of months to track down enough unclassified materia for Reeve. She hadn't gone back to Edge, but she'd sent the samples back via Strife's Delivery Service. Cloud only charged her a little extra to make up for stealing his chocobo (not that she cared, since she was sending the bills to Reeve) but he did let her keep using it while she was travelling. He'd obviously acquired a good mood along with a nice tan during his honeymoon.

She was waiting in a materia cave just outside Junon to collect the last sample. It should be ready to harvest in a few hours. It needed just the right moment, too soon and it wasn't powerful enough, too late and it turned into a regular materia. She'd missed the moment a couple of times, although she had got some pretty awesome materia out of her mistakes.

It was raining outside, so she and her chocobo took shelter in the cave, drying themselves by a small campfire that bounced strangely off the green cavern walls. She was drowsy, but she didn't want to risk oversleeping and letting the materia grow too mature. She didn't really want to have to find another sample.

She was ready to go back to Edge and face her demons. Well, her demon-possessed man.

She had started to understand Vincent's decision as she travelled. She still thought that he should have told her the truth, but that was Vincent. He took too much on himself, always had. It probably hadn't even occurred to him to confide in her, just in case it endangered her. She could just about accept that.

Even Reno had accepted it, when they had spoken over the phone during in their semi-regular conversations. In between hearing about his new conquests (which she could listen to without the slightest hint of jealousy) he had helped her to figure out the incomprehensible maze that was the male mind.

"He shouldn't have been such an ass about it, but he was just trying to protect you, babe," he'd concluded one night, while she'd been staring into a different campfire.

But even though she understood his point of view, a little, she wasn't sure if she wanted to start up their relationship again. Loving Vincent had always been a risk, just not in the ways that he would think.

Being with a man who had been so devoted to another woman had always been a gamble, even for a ninja who generally saw risk as being part of the fun. She'd loved him for years before he had really begun to notice her. It was unrequited, but she was fine with that, she wasn't the type to pine away over a man she couldn't have.

But once he had started to return her feelings, even a little bit, that had changed. Every smile she had coaxed out of him was a victory, every kiss a triumph, every moment of contentment she'd caused him a joy. After all that, being told that she was merely an afterthought to a woman who had broken his heart hadn't just stung, it had been like a knife wound to her heart. And her pride. It didn't matter that he claimed it hadn't been true.

She wasn't sure if she was up to taking the risk again. She could face physical danger any day and laugh about it, but she couldn't face having her heart broken again. Only an idiot made the same mistake twice; that was why she was now proficient in rope-escape techniques.

But whatever happened, she would talk it over with Vincent first. She owed him that much after running off because he told her he loved her.

She had been half-dozing, lulled by the flames, when she heard a scraping sound at the entrance of the cave. She scrambled to her feet, holding her Conformer ready. It would just be her luck for a behemoth or something to wander in out of the rain.

Her eyes were slightly dazzled after looking into the fire for so long, so it took a long moment for her vision to clear and for her to recoginse her visitor.

"Vincent," she whispered, staring at him in shock. She hadn't expected to see him, she was totally thrown off. He was wet from the rain, but it just made him look sexy. Her hair hung like limp, straggly strands of seaweed because it had got wet. Life wasn't fair sometimes.

"Hello Yuffie," he murmured, his eyes sweeping intently over her. She suddenly felt shy.

"How did you find me?" she asked, slightly shakily. "Did Reeve tell you where I was?"

Vincent shook his head. "He wouldn't tell me… but he said if I found you myself it wasn't his fault, and left me alone with his computer and tracking device." She couldn't help a laugh. That was typical Reeve.

"You found me from that?" she asked, surprised. He nodded. "Wow. It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't even switch your PHS on."

"Hn." He hadn't taken his eyes from her once. "May I come in?"

The absurdity of asking so politely for permission to enter a cave, after he was already inside, made her snort with inelegant laughter and broke the mounting tension. Vincent relaxed a little and came and joined her by the fire, removing his cloak to spread it out and dry it.

"Are you well?" he asked her after he was settled.

She nodded. "Yeah. I've nearly got all the unclassified materia Reeve wanted."

His eyebrow rose in surprise. "It was you who found it?"

"Do you know anyone else who could find so much rare materia so quickly?" she asked him lightly, laughing again when he shook his head.

"I suppose not." And just like that, the mood grew serious again. "I've been looking for you."

"I didn't want to be found," she admitted. Vincent sighed. "I was planning on coming home tomorrow, though."

"I see. Did you… have time to think about what I told you?" In the firelight, his red eyes looked unusually young and hopeful.

"Yeah." Her voice cracked. "Vincent, I don't…"

She didn't need to continue. Without his cloak, his hurt was clear on his face. There was only a trace of it, but on Vincent that was the equivalent of another man burying his head in his hands. "I see. Is it… Reno?" The thought clearly pained him.

Not so long ago, she would have used that knowledge to wound him like he had wounded her, rubbed his face in the fact that she had found someone else. Now she just shook her head. "We're just friends," she told him. There had been enough pain between them.

Maybe she was growing up.

"I thought… but didn't you…?" he didn't know how, or didn't want to, phrase the question.

She sighed and nodded. He really was a masochist sometimes. "Yeah, we did. But what did you expect, Vincent? Locking yourself in a coffin for a million years is not a normal response to being dumped."

He winced, though whether it was because of what she had just told him, or because she had trampled uncaringly over his Big Issues, she wasn't sure.

"I know." Aside from the crackling of the fire, there was silence between them. She glanced at his face, and then away. She could give him that privacy at least.

"Reno said to tell you that you're an idiot," she informed him helpfully, awkwardly breaking the long silence while he gathered himself.

"It pains me to agree with him," he replied in that very dry tone she had eventually learned was a form of bleak humour. After a while he spoke again, his voice composed. "If not Reno, may I ask why?"

She hugged her knees to her chest. This was more horrible than she had expected it to be, and that was pretty damn horrible. "Because I can't get over you again."

She heard the creaking of leather as Vincent moved closer to her. She felt the fingers of his gauntlet, cool and careful, against her chin as he turned her to face him. "What?" he asked, and there was so much longing in the word that she gasped.

"The next time something happens; some danger you don't want me to face, or an argument you can't get over, or even when you just get sick of me being annoying-" he started to murmur a protest but she just spoke louder to cut him off. "And you know there'll be _something_. I won't be able to bear it when you push me away again, when you say things to make me go…"

She blinked, her eyes feeling curiously hot, and to her surprise, she felt tears streak down her cheeks. She had not cried throughout those whole miserable months, no matter how much she had wanted to. She hated crying, and she couldn't believe she was doing it now, in front of Vincent. He brought his good hand up to wipe them away and she felt his fingers tremble against her skin.

"Yuffie," he whispered. "I didn't mean any of it. I swear it."

"It doesn't matter," she sighed. "You still said it."

He drew his hand away so she shut her eyes and curled up tighter, not wanting to watch him leave. Instead, he settled next to her, so that their shoulders and thighs were pressed together. She turned her head slightly to peep at him with one eye.

"I missed you," he offered. "Every day. I think my demons missed you too."

"Really?" she asked, feeling a smile quiver on her lips.

"Really," he confirmed. "Especially Death Gigas."

She snickered a little. "I always thought Hellmasker would be the kinky one."

Vincent's shoulders heaved. She wasn't sure if he was sighing or holding back a laugh. "Yuffie… I love you. I never thought I had it in me, but I do. You've… rescued me, in so many different ways." She sniffled, and unconsciously leant her head on his shoulder. "I can't promise that I'll never hurt you again… but I can promise to never do it deliberately." He carefully reached out and took her hand, winding their fingers together. "If you still want me, I will… prove to you that you can trust me. I promise."

Yuffie knew that Vincent didn't make promises lightly, but she was still unsure. Until she looked into his eyes. They were steady and fierce and loving. She had never hoped, four years ago, that he would ever look at her like that, and it made the wounded, fearful part of her feel stronger. She hadn't stopped loving him. Maybe she really could start trusting him again.

"I'll make you jump through hoops, you know," she told him, her voice shaky. It was only fair to give him warning.

The corners of his mouth twitched, just a little. "I know."

"And grovel."

"As much as you like."

"Well, just as long as you know…"

She trailed off as he leant towards her, but before he could kiss her, she leapt to her feet, shrieking in alarm. "The materia!"

She dashed over to the pool of mako, hearing Vincent follow. They hadn't missed the moment but it was very close. "You distracted me!" she accused. He smirked, clearly not sorry. He crouched behind her to watch and wait.

Just a few minutes later she saw the materia glow with energy, and just before it changed colour, she reached out and snatched it up. She examined it carefully for a moment before handing it to Vincent. "What do you think?"

His hand cupped hers over the materia that would provide him peace and he leant down to give her the kiss she had interrupted, one full of hope and promises.

For the first time in ages, she felt like things were going to be _alright_. 

Vincent smiled gently at the dazed look on her face when he drew back. "I think we should go home."

**Author's Note:**

> For the 2010 Girl Saves Boy ficathon.


End file.
